Witold Lutoslawski’s String Quartet no. 2 comes from a time when his style had entered a 'Sturm und Drang' period. Dissonant harmonies, vivid juxtapositions in musical color, and complex textures fill the majority of his works from the 1960s, including this 1964 work. Its compositional craft places it directly among the most important works in the genre’s history. Pawel Mykietyn’s String Quartet no. 2 belongs to his creative evolution that began in 2004 and continues to this day. Works created in this time are more or less widely considered to be the greatest Polish works of recent years.

American Record Guide, March/April 2015The question, of course, is do you want a CD lasting under 40 minutes? The Lutoslawski work is available in several other recordings. This is potentially a fine performance after it gets started.

Notes & Reviews:

Recording information: European Krzysztof Penderecki Centre for Music (11/2013).